made into faggots, and to be burned. "Bind them in bundles to burn them," said our Lord, speaking of careless and ungodly men and women at the day of judgment. What awfully expressive words! What an end for precious souls to come to! and that when they might lie in the bosom of Jesus Christ, and shine as the stars in God's kingdom for ever and ever!

Now we want the finger of God to write upon our hearts, what man can utter only to our ears, this one short lesson

That none but Christians can be happy, either in this world or that which is to come; and that the Christianity of the Bible is a very different thing from that which commonly goes by the name.

SERMON XVII.

ESTHER V. 2, 3.

"And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom."

GOD has not been pleased to give us much account of the Jews, during the time of their continuance in the land of Chaldea, whither they were carried captive by their enemies. We know a little of their history while they were in Egypt; something more of it while they were travelling about in the wilderness of Arabia; and much concerning it while they continued in their own land of Canaan. But very little information is given us concerning their state, while they were strangers and captives in the land of Babylon.

This book of Esther, however, contains a very remarkable circumstance of their history during that time. And it will be found by every one who studies it with care, and with a view to profit as well as to pleasure, as full of spiritual instruction, as any other historical portion of the Bible.

It is to be remembered that Esther, concerning whom the book speaks, had many difficulties and hindrances to contend with in religion. She was a Jewess, and consequently had very little light and spiritual knowledge. She lived too among heathens, and her own husband was an ungodly and unbelieving man, quite ignorant of the Bible and careless about his soul. This was another great hindrance to her. She was also very young and very beautiful, and in these respects was exposed to many and great temptations, and stood in need of a large measure of Divine grace to enable her to overcome them. And, what was most dangerous to her soul was, she was a Queen. She lived in a palace, and was surrounded by all the pomp and magnificence and luxury of the world. And this is a most dangerous situation for any one. Religion is not often found in a palace; and when people have much of the good things of this world, they are apt to be very careless about the good things of the world to come.

Yet notwithstanding all these things, there is reason to hope, that Esther was a true child of God: that she had grace given her to overcome the world, and to keep herself unspotted during her earthly course; and that when she died, she exchanged the crown of gold for the crown of glory, and passed from an earthly to an heavenly throne.

I shall consider,

I. SOME PARTICULARS CONNECTED WITH
THE TEXT.

II. SOME REFLECTIONS WHICH IT SUG

GESTS.

I. THE PARTICULARS, which are necessary to

be noticed, to enable us to understand the Text, are briefly these.

Ahasuerus, the king of the country of Chaldea, had among his counsellors a wicked man named Haman, who had taken a great aversion to the Jews, and formed a project for their destruction. And being very high in the king's favour, and enjoying his master's confidence in a great measure, he found no great difficulty in persuading him to pass a decree, which went to the utter ruin and destruction of all the Jews in the land.

And when the Jews heard, as they soon did, of the decree which had been passed against them, they were of course in great consternation, and quite at a loss where to turn for help and deliverance. The danger was great and near; and they were a poor and oppressed and captive people, for whom no one cared; and their adversary was a high and mighty person; and the king's decree, once made, could not be recalled. So they were in the greatest perplexity and distress, and doubtless every pious and well-disposed person among them, failed not to beseech the Lord God to interpose, and save them when no one else could.

And God heard and answered their prayers. His Providence had ordained, that Esther, who was the king's wife at this time, was a Jewess, one of the very people whom the wicked Haman wanted to destroy. She living in the Royal Palace, knew nothing at all of what was going on, and of the decree which had been issued against her nation; until her uncle, one Mordecai, who had taken care of and been kind to her, since the death of her parents, sent to tell her of it, and to desire that she would interfere with the king, and do what she could on their behalf.

Now it was the law among that people, that if any person whatever, no matter who he was, or what was his business, should venture into the king's presence without being sent for, he should be put to death: and unless the king happened to hold out his sceptre towards him in token of his pardoning the intrusion, this law was always put into execution. And Queen Esther knew that this was the law; and thought too, that as the king had not sent for her more than a month, he would be sure to be very angry with her for coming without being sent for, and no sceptre of mercy would be held out.

However, upon the repeated desire of Mordecai, she determined to run the risk. And having desired the prayers of her nation on her behalf, and sought God's blessing on her undertaking herself by supplication and fasting, she boldly presented herself before the king. And God so moved his heart, that instead of being angry with her for her presumption, as every one expected he would, the moment he saw her, even when she was some distance off, he held out the golden sceptre towards her. This comforted poor Esther's fainting heart; and when she had touched it, she was encouraged to make known the request she had to make.

The further particulars of the story, I need not enter upon; it will be enough to say, that in the end Haman's wicked devices against the Jews were baffled, and himself brought to the death he had contrived for others. Thus God was pleased to work out a mighty deliverance for His people by the hands of a woman, and has proved hereby, that He has far more to do with the hearts of kings and the affairs of nations, than many are at all disposed to believe.